


Oh, What's in a Name?

by momentofchaos



Series: DousyWeek2020 [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Dousy Week 2020, F/M, Fluff, Names, Retrospective, brief mention of abuse, dousyweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momentofchaos/pseuds/momentofchaos
Summary: Over the years she’d had a multitude of names, all with different memories or feelings tied to them. In a way, her names could mark different chapters in the story of her life. Even if they’d not fit right, which many of them hadn’t.Prompt: Day 4 - Warmth || Names
Relationships: Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Series: DousyWeek2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024833
Comments: 16
Kudos: 65





	Oh, What's in a Name?

**Author's Note:**

> So this is what I was thinking about at 3am, so why not! 
> 
> Slightly shorter than yesterday but hey ho. 
> 
> Brief mention of abuse, like really brief and no more so than in the show or anything.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Day 4!

Over the years she’d had a multitude of names, all with different memories or feelings tied to them. In a way, her names could mark different chapters in the story of her life. Even if they’d not fit right, which many of them hadn’t.

Mary Sue Poots. The name the orphan dropped on a doorstep had be assigned. She’d been told by one of the nicer nuns that her name came from an older nun who had died a few weeks before her arrival at the orphanage. It never felt right, every time she was referred to as Mary Sue, she felt her shoulders tense and her stomach clench. It was the name that was screamed up staircases when the nuns found she’d stolen food for herself and some of the smaller kids, or the name foster parents shouted when she broke a dish before locking her in cupboard. It was the name that was printed on wanted posters when she ran from that same foster home, the name she’d been given but always hated.

Skye was different. Skye was the name she’d given herself, an attempt to secure her own identity in a world where she had no concrete place to stand, where no one was looking out for her. She wiped Mary Sue from existence, Skye fit her better. It became familiar after a while, after a settling period at least. It was the name she gave to the questionable friends she made while living in her van, the ones who taught her to hack and enhanced her survival instincts. It was the name she had when she met Coulson, the name he held onto longer than everyone else. And when she started to feel at home with her team, it was the name Jemma would call softly across the lab when she wanted her to look at something, or the name May would use when running drills as her SO. It was also the name that Ward bit out in anger when she confronted him as being a traitor. The name he spat with venom after she had shot him. The name he said to manipulate her.

Adopting her birth name seemed to be a natural movement, for everyone except Coulson, but he eventually caught up. Skye had become outdated. Daisy Johnson felt right, and for the first time she felt that she had solid ground beneath her feet, knowing every element of her past. A past to build her future on. It wasn’t an easy transition, but the ode to the father that didn’t know who she was, was important to her. And for a long time, it was the best name she’d had. But then, as it always did, life went sideways for her. The hole left by Lincoln sacrificing himself for her, caused a spiral which she saw no way out of. The fact that he called her Daisy wasn’t an issue, but for a while it tainted it. She retreated away from the home, the family she had built as Daisy, going back to pushing away anyone she had ever dared to hold close. Daisy was her name, and it would always be her name, legally and in her mind. It still felt right, fit like a glove. But a part of her identity was missing without him by her side. One she thought she’d never get back.

A name she had never given much thought to was Tremors. Somewhere amongst the madness of space rocks and alien overlords, Mack had become the overprotective brother figure she had never had, and with Mack’s friendship came nicknames, if you were lucky. She couldn’t tell you exactly when it had started, but it was comforting and familiar. Something that could be muttered in the heat of battle or the quiet of movie night on the base as he passed her a beer, that would ground her back to reality. It wasn’t mocking or pitiful, but it celebrated her powers in subtle, supportive way.

The same could not be said for the Quake moniker that the press had started calling her. She got the reason behind it and that every superhero needed a name, but why did it stick. She had no doubt she’d never have come up for a name like that for herself, but she had never thought of an alternative to push. She preferred Agent Johnson in all professional settings and always referred to herself as that, even when others didn’t. It did stick though and became her public identity which grew on her over the years, especially when a little girl stopped her on the street one day and with wide eye and a cute smile, asked for her autograph. She had signed the photo as Quake and that had been a turning point in her acceptance of the title. Maybe it wasn’t so bad.

(On another note, she would never forgive Mack for telling Sousa about the Quake thing, but every time he used it to tease her, which was often, it always made her smile no matter how much she tried to hide it.)

Her least favourite moniker was the one Deke introduced her to, The Destroyer of Worlds. Not only was it inaccurate, but it undermined everything she’d fought so hard for throughout her life. The good she’d done for SHIELD and humanity, the life she’d built with her team. All of it would be forgotten if she truly had destroyed earth and caused the downfall of the majority of humanity, only to leave the remaining few to be subject to the dictatorship of an evil Kree ruler. The name that was so opposed to everything she stood for or wanted. The name that was an outright lie.

It made sense in some way that one of her favourite names, also came from the offspring of her best friends. When that little girl leapt out of her father’s arms, the first time Daisy laid eyes on her, and ran at her, a shock of blonde hair carried by little legs running directly at her, her body reacted automatically. But what shocked her was how she addressed her. That small British voice calling her ‘Auntie Daisy’, crashing into her with her tiny arms around the Inhuman’s neck. Her eyes immediately shot to Jemma, who was standing not too far away leaning on her husband, watching two of her people meet for the first time. “We thought it was right.” Fitz spoke up as Daisy held tightly onto the bundle of energy in her arms. It was then that Daisy knew that her battles had been worth it, and every time Alya or any of the other subsequent SHIELD babies called her by that name her heart grew a little. Her nieces and nephews, biological or not, represented the cause they’d fought so hard for, that for everything lost, there was something gained, and she couldn’t be prouder to be an aunt.

One thing she’d never given much thought to was what would happen if she got married. But after Daniel got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife, which she joyfully accepted, it crossed her mind when they were relaxing in their Zephyr 3 bunk on their way back to Earth after a successful mission. After fighting so hard to find the name Johnson, she didn’t know if she wanted to give it up but given that Daniel was still sort of old-fashioned in most aspects of life, she wondered if, as his wife, it was something he expected of her.

“Would you want me to change my name?” She said out of the blue, as she stared up at the ceiling of their bunk, absentmindedly fiddling with the engagement ring which still felt a little alien on her left hand. She heard Daniel close the book her was reading and place it on the nightstand, and he shuffled to sit up straighter against the headboard.

“What, when we get married?” He asked, carding one hand gently through her hair.

“Yeah, would you want me to take Sousa? It was traditional in your original time.” She said, shifting to lay her head in his lap, looking up at him.

“Well, I don’t think anything about us traditional Daisy. And I don’t mind, you can if you want, but I know what you went through to find Johnson. I know how you feel about it. It’s entirely up to you.” He pressed a kiss to the knuckles of one of her hands, as her brow furrowed in deep thought. A few moments passed, before he opened his mouth again, deciding a previous thought he’d had before proposing might be useful to her right now. “I had thought that Johnson-Sousa flows quite well, for me anyway.” She sat up quickly, shocking him at the sudden movement.

“You want to take my name?” She asked incredulously.

“Well, yeah. If you wanted me to, I think it would be nice to share a name. You would be my wife, after all. And I, your husband.” He said, smirking at the idea. “And we could still be Agent Johnson and Agent Sousa at work. If that was something you wanted, of course.” He added, for nothing to be reassure her. She leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips before drawing away.

“Daniel and Daisy Johnson-Sousa.” She said quietly, letting the names roll off her tongue and she tested them out. “Daisy and Daniel Johnson-Sousa. I like it.” And that is what they became six months later.

However, one of her names was by far her favourite and it was one that she hadn’t been expecting. Sat in the hospital room, exhausted from pushing for what felt like hours, Daisy sleepily watched as her husband cradled their baby girl to his chest. His voice was soft and warm, always had been, like a lullaby as her body begged her to let it rest. She let her eyes flutter shut as she listened to him talking to the small bundle in his arms.

“Hey there, Hi. Hello sweetheart. I’m your Daddy, or Pa. That’s what I called mine, but we’ll see what you think when you’re a bit bigger. And that beautiful lady over there, that worked so hard to get you here, that’s your Momma or Mommy. You look just like her, you lucky baby, I think you might have my ears though.” Daisy lost the rest of the conversation as her eyes shot open and she took in a sharp breath, the sound of which caused Daniel’s head to shoot up at her in concern. “What’s wrong?” He asked, clearly worried.

“Nothing. Nothing. I just realised something is all.” She reassured him. “I’m a mom. She’s going to call me Mom.” He cracked a wide smile to mirror her at that. And you best believe that ten months later, when Charlotte Johnson-Sousa babbled out her first ‘mama’ and simultaneously lifted her arms to be held by her, Daisy broke down in tears as she held her baby close. Unexpected and kind of out of the blue, that was the best name she had ever had.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading 💛
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated ☺️


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